Roller-bearing



J. F. OCUNNOR.

ROLLER BEARING.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 6.1920.

Patented Mar. 29, 19M.

,K CB,

narran f ortica.

JOHN F. OCONNOR, OF CHCAGO, ILLNOS, ASSGNORVTO WILLAIVI H. MINEFI, OF

CRAZY, NEW YGRK.

nonna-BEARING.

.Application led May 6,

To allez/'hom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, doi-IN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen` of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveVinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Roller-Bearings, ofwhich the following is a full, clear', concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification. v f

This invention. relates to improvements in roller bearings.

One object of the invention is to provide an anti-friction rollerbearing especially adapted to railway cars wherein the friction isreducedsubstantially to a minimum and the parts made self-centeringunder the influence of gravity.

More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide ananti-friction bearing for railway cars adapted to be mounted on onebolster and whereinis presented a roller to the opposed bolster soarranged that said roller rotates about a relatively nxed axis while atthe same time having a rolling bearing and also arranged as to avoid theusual disadvantages present in side bearings of theroller type havingmore or less delicate centering means or limited travel.

lnthe drawing*forininga part of this specification, Figure 1 is avertical sectional view through the ends of body and truck bolsters of arailway car, the improved bearing being shown in elevation as applied tothe truck bolster. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view takensubstantially on the line 2-2 of F 1. F ig. 3 is a vertical sectionalviewV of an anti-frictionbearing embodying my invention, theconstruction being somewhat different from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.And Fig. l is a vertical sectional view taken VVsubstantially on theline 4 -4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and.2, 10 denotesthe under side of a body bolster of a railway car' and'll the upper partof an opposed truck bolster.` rllhe improved bearing is shown appliedto'the truck bolster and, as shown, comprises, broadly, a retaining orbase casting a bearing roller B a pair of supporting rollers C ftl; andframes DMD.. f

lThe base orl retaining casting A is provided with suitable lugs v12--1by which the casting may be riveted or otherwise secured Specificationof Letters Patent. Patentigd MEM-n 29, 1921i,

1920. Serial No. 379,329.

to the bolster. .Cn its interior, the casting A is provided with acurved bearing surface 13 which is symmetrically arranged with respectto the vcenter of thel casting and, in g actual practice, the bearing.surface 13 will preferably be struck on a radius, the center of whichcoincides with the axis of the bearing roller B. rlhe bearing surface 13ris formed on a web'of the casting A, said web being suitably braced byvertically extending ribsl-li formed integrally with the casting l Thesupporting rollers C`C are of like construction and are arranged tolroll back and forth on the surface 13, as will be evident from aninspection of Fig. 1. Each of the rollers C has a centrally extendingopening through which is inserted a removable headed pin 15, said pin'15 passing through corresponding perforations in the frames or plates D,as indicated in Fig. 2. rlhe pins 15 are held against accidental removalby cotters 16. With this construction, it is evident that the relationbetween the rollers C will always be maintained, their axes being heldat a predetermined fixed distance apart. The bearing roller B issimilarly attached to the frames llby a corresponding pin 17 and cotter18, it being noted that the axes of the pins 15 and 17 coincide with thethree corners of an isosceles'triangle andy preferably the corners ofane'quilateral 'triangle if all ofthe rollers C and B are of likesize.

The frames orpl'ates D, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 are of triangularforinationwith the lower edge curved as indicated at 19 on an areconcentric with the axis of the pin 17. rlhe plates D are positionedwithin triangular openings 2Ov formed in the upwardly extending walls 21of the base casting A, the site of the plates D being appreciably lessthan the size of the openings 20. The plates l) are limited in theirtravel when the edges 22 thereof engage the correspondingedges 23 of theside walls. The side walls may be slotted near the bottom of the basecasting as indicated at 24C in order to facilitate clearing out of dirtor other foreign matter.

The operation of the device is as follows. llfhen the body bolster comesinto engageinent with the roller B and the latter is rotated, it isevident that the rollers C will also be rotated and caused to travel inone direction up the curved bearing surface 13. During this movement, itwill be noted that the llO bearing roller B does not travel bodily but jrotates about a relatively fixed axis and consequently anydesired'travel of the body bolster bearing surface thereon may beobtained as is customary with thosev types of anti-friction bearingslwhere the anti-friction roller rotates on a .fixed axle. llt willalsobe noted that a rolling bearing or'journal is provided for thebearing roller B byV means of theV traveling rollers C.-C andV hencefriction is reducedtoa minimum. since lno element `is required to rotateabout any fixed journal or axle, the pins 15-and 17 acting merely asretainers and not as supports. ,Upon removal of the` actuating pressure,itis evident thatthe two rollers vC--C together ywith the frames l)lwill automatically return to ltheir central normal position kunder theinfluence of gravity so that the device is self- .centering and withoutthe aid of anyA springs or other relativel7 delicate devices.

Yln the construction illustrated in Figs. 8 and 4, the base vorretaining cast-ing A is of substantially the saine constructionr as thatshown inthe lother figures except` that the side walls thereof are notslotted to accom- Vmodate` any triangular frames.l Saidcasting A isprovided with ani arcuate bearing sur-V face 113 upon which are adaptedtoroll back .and forth the enlarged disk-like ends 25 of `and .which issupportedby the endsfof the spools C. A retaining pin 117 ispassedthrough the tube journal 28 and through cor;

responding alined openings in the side walls- 121 of the base casting,said pin being held by a cotter 118.

1n the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 7.4, and above described, theoperation is substantially the same as that of the structure shown inFigs. 1 and 2. In the form of Figs. 3 and 4, however, due to thevreduceddiameter ofthe journal 28, a proportionately less rotation ofthespoolsfC will occur than will occur with the rollers C of the con*struction shownin Figs. 1 and 2. Stated in another manner, a rotation ofthe bearing roller B of the construction shown in Fig. 1, through anarcof 3600 will produce a substantially equal amount of rotation of the.rollers C whereas, in the construction in F igs3- andd, a rotation ofthe roller B through an arc of 360o will produce substantially onlyone-half the amount of rotation of the spools C. Hence, with theconstruction shown in Figs. 3 andv 4, a greater subj ected travel of thebearing is provided for within predetermined limits than with theconstruction sho-wn invv Figs. 1 and 2 where the bearing rollers are ofthe same size. The structure shown in Figs. 1 and2 possesses a certainadvantage over that shown in Figs. 3 and e in that the roller B issupported throughout its entire length and `hence is only toVcompression strains whereas the roller B', or at least the journalthereof isu subjected to, some bending-moments.

Although l have herein shown and described what I now consider thepreferred .manner of carrying out the invention, I do notwish to be:limited thereto and what claim is:V Y v i. Y ff.. 1. 1n lananti-friction bearing, the combi- Y nation with a retaining memberhaving; a

curved bearing surface symmetrically disposed with respect to the centerthereof; of a pair of traveling rollers supported on said surface; meansfor maintaining said rollers in a predetermined relation, saidpair oflrollers being automatically centered under the influence of gravity onsaid surface when the bearing vis not under an actuating pres- Y sure;and a bearing rolleradapted to engage .an opposed bearing surface, saidbearing roller havingy rolling bearing contact with said travelingrollers.

2.5In an anti-friction bearing, the combi.- nation Awith a. retainingmember having Ya curved bearing surface symmetrically disposed withrespect to the center thereof; of a pair of traveling rollers supportedon said surface; means for maintaining said rollers in a predeterminedrelation, saidfpair of j vrollers being automatically lcentered underthe influence of gravity on said surface when the bearing is not underan actuating pressure; and a bearing'roller adapted to engage an opposedVbearing surface, .said bearingl roller having rolling bearing tact withsaid traveling rollers, said curved bearing surface being struck on aradius having its center coinciding with the Vaxis of said bearingroller.

3. In an anti-friction bearing 4for railway cars,the combination with: abase casting adapted. tovbe secured to a truckb'olster; ofabearingroller associated with said base casting and adapted to engagethe bearing surface of an opposed bodybolster; and

traveling roller .bearings mounted on theV base casting, arranged tosupport said bearing roller.

4L. In a side bearing ofthe character dei scribed, the combination witha base casting provided with an upwardly facing concave vbearing surfacesymmetrically arranged COIl'- navegar der the influence of gravity; anda bearing roller extending partly above the base casting and adapted tocoperate with an opposed bearing surface, said bearing roller havingrolling bearing contact with the pair of first named rolling elements.

5. In a side bearing for railway cars, the combination with a basecasting adapted to be secured to a truck bolster, said casting beingprovided with an upwardly facing concave bearing surface and spaced sidewalls, the latter having openings therein; of a pair of travelingrollers mounted on said surface; a bearing roller supported by said irstnamed pair of rollers; and frames at the ends of said rollers to whichthe latter are attached, said frames being disposed in the openings ofthe side walls and maintaining a fixed relation between the threerollers.

ln witness that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto subscribed my namethis 26th day of Apr., 1920.

JGHN F. OCONNOR. Witness:

CARRIE GAIMNG.

